I just heard the devastating news that Raja Gaddipati, a former MBA and Northwestern debater, passed away suddenly. He was 36 years old and leaves a wife and two small children. My heart goes out to all of my MBA and Northwestern friends that are hurting today.

Raja Gaddipati was certainly one of the most talented and hard working people I was ever privileged to coach. In recent years, however, I have been even more proud to see him grow into the wonderful husband and father he became. Those are the legacies that matter, and Raja gave them his all. I am devastated, but my thoughts and prayers are with his family today and always. Thinking of Emma, Lila, and Sophia. Rest, well, my friend.

Devastating. I knew Raja mostly as a competitor, first in his time at MBA with Alan Coverstone and then as an outstanding debater at Northwestern. He was among the best I ever had the chance to judge and his energy and enthusiasm for what he did was incredible.

I never met his own family, but I've enjoyed seeing him and them on Facebook over the last five+ years. A really beautiful family.

Iím so sorry and so saddened by this news. Iíve always respected and looked up to Raja, and he was always nothing but kind and constructive in his dialogues with me over the course of his judging me during my debate career. He was a great man. RIP, my dear friend and colleague.

The worst possible reason to suspend my Facebook hiatus: Raja Gaddipati passed away suddenly on Monday. As much as any coach, Raja shaped my approach to debate, and life generally. He was, quite simply, the hardest-working, most ruthlessly effective policy debate strategist I have ever met. I feared and respected him as a competitor and loved coaching with him more than I can put into words. Like Duck, he wrapped a kind heart and generous soul in a cloak of often hilariously mean-son-of-a-bitch-ness. More than anyone else I have known, he embodied the famous epitaph: "[there was] no better friend, and no worse enemy." **

By force of example, he made me better in every aspect of life. Over the last few years, I neglected our friendship and took for granted that he would always be there towering over me (both literally and figuratively). Because it's so easy to reconnect with debate folks after not seeing each other for years, I've done a poor job of staying engaged with you all... and I'm going to be dealing with that for a while. If I send you a maudlin message of reconnection, just blame Raj.

In the meantime, I'm helping Jeff Gaunt organize some debater-specific things for those attending the funeral this Monday in Chicago. A dinner and some times to hang out, drink and mourn are likely. I know that child care is an issue for my family, and I'll be trying to address that as well--comment or email me if you need help on that front as well (firstname.lastname @ gmail).

I'll post details in the comments below as I get them. If you want to help out the family, also say so in the comments or email-there's a process in place.